Fulham search for Premier League win against Palace

Fulham carry on the search for a first Premier League win of the season this weekend when they host Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage. Scott Parker’s men have lost four and won none of their five matches thus far but there were shoots of hope from their last outing.

Bramall Lane can be a tough venue to get a point, so Parker will be encouraged by effort his players showed in that 1-1 draw vs Sheffield United. Ademola Lookman scored a brilliant solo goal, marking himself out as a forward who could help Fulham avoid the drop. On loan from RB Leipzig, Lookman, who turned 23 this week, has been talked up as an exciting prospect for years.

Time is running out for the attacker to fulfil his potential. If this happened to be the season in which he did that, it would suit Fulham.

The Cottagers are bottom of the table and could use a win in their next few outings as a psychological lift. The longer this winless run goes on, the more ingrained it will be in the minds of the players that this squad is not Premier League quality. 

Palace made a positive start to the campaign, winning their opening two matches, one of which was at Old Trafford. However, any momentum that they had was lost in the subsequent three matches, which produced two defeats and one draw.

While the defeats were against strong Everton and Chelsea teams, the home point against Brighton was completely undeserved. Brighton peppered the Palace goal with shots and were undone by a dodgy penalty, Palace’s only shot on target in the game. Fulham are undefeated in six of their last seven home matches against Palace. Many of those games were in the second tier, which continues to offer up fascinating contests.

To see which clubs are likeliest to earn promotion next, read the Championship predictions available on Sporty Trader. Predicting who will win the Fulham-Palace match is more difficult but we anticipate a game low on goals.